More PM

Well I guess if you can't be on the water then the next best thing is being on the boat! I finished removing all items from the boat. It is amazing how much stuff you end up with, it is equally amazing that the boat still floats with all this stuff. Anyway I began the cleansing of the interior as well as electronics musical chairs. I removed the bracket and wiring for the old fish finder to make way for the new Uniden VHF. I installed the wireless second station charging cradle on the v-berth bulkhead and could not complete the wiring because they do not include an in-line fuse. Can you believe that, you spend over a hundred bucks for a second mic and they can't even give you a 2 dollar fuse holder. It is just as well since I really should install an new buss bar with power that is always on regardless of batter selector switch position. This mic needs to recharge and there is also a need for accessory power for other devices to keep memory so I will add that to the distribution panel next time. I also decided to try replacing the gimbel pins on two of the rod holders with stainless hardware in lieu of replacing the whole rod holder. Only time will tell if this will hold up to wire line trolling which is what busted out the pins in the first place. Hopefully they will hold up that way I can order a new Avet reel instead of two rod holders. I also vacuumed the whole interior, something that was long over due. Once all the other wiring and work is done inside I will wash down all interior surfaces and oil the teak. Hopefully between working on the house and 47 days left before launch I can get all the planned projects done this time.

Interior PM This Weekend

Well the outside of the boat is done and now it is on to the pilothouse and the rest of the inside. I hope to get down this weekend to do some more work in preparation for Winter Flounder season. It is only 63 days away and you would be amazed how fast 63 days slips by when your boat is not completely ready to back in the water. It is amazing how much stuff you acquire throughout the year. I now know why my fuel consumption went up...I have about an extra 100 pounds of gear from the previous year. Anyway I will be cleaning the fiberglass interior, cushions, windows, carpets, head, teak, etc. I was thinking of trying Interlux's teak products...Premium Teak Restorer and Premium Teak Oil. Anyone have experience with them? Please post comments good or bad.

Last Striper Trip of the Season

Well I hopped aboard the Gambler out of Point this morning. It was a beautiful day on the water, high in the 50's flat seas...maybe too flat. The boat started out North and around Shark River Inlet layed down the throttles. We were greeted by bird activity on Shrewsbury Rocks. It was a good sign but only 1 short and 1 30" fish was caught by the 50 anglers. We continued to fish in and around the rocks and Ambrose Channel. We also hit the Elberon Rocks on the way back. At the end of the day there were only two keepers and about four shorts caught. There were several spineys caught and I had an eight inch squid. I debated on keeping it for the table to avoid the skunk but after a short debate re-hooked it and sent it down. I had a run-off on it but did not hook up. It was supposed to be a half day trip with the Holiday coming and Bobby did his best to put us on fish moving around a lot and trying a dozen or so spots to find fish. We ended up getting back an hour late of the half day return time. All in all it was a nice day on the water with some die hard fisherman.

I guess it is only the trip of the year since I have no intention of stopping with this mild weather. I think I am going to switch to blackfishing though since that seems to be better right now. There are also some small schools of mackerel showing up so may get that chore over with. One trip should load the bait freezer for next or should I say this season.

A Sad Day in Boating

Well I did not want to come out but decided it was for the best. She is hauled, blocked and winterized. Now it is time for the annual cleaning and polishing. We did not fish as many days this year but caught a heck of a lot more fish and the decks are filthy.

I am a firm believer of putting the boat away clean. I get criticized by everyone else at the marina but I typically launch in the end of February or beginning of March and usually, maybe not this year, but usually it is damn cold that time of year. So with this mild weather I have gone ahead and washed and waxed the entire outside of the boat. I may need to apply a non-skid traction agent to the decks yet but can do that later. I recently switched to Interlux's product, Premium Teflon Marine Wax with Cleaner. The boat came out much better than last year, it is whiter, shinier and smoother. Last season I had used the Meguire's boat/RV product. I know many people recommend the Collonite products but they are much harder to use and if you miss the small window to remove the wax it is a real pain in the but to polish off. I guess we will just have to wait and see how it holds up with weekly fishing trips. I am hoping the Teflon in the product will really help prevent bait, slime, guts and the like from sticking and staining the decks, gunwales and other nooks and crannies of the boat. Now it is on to cleaning the interior and installing new electronics and gadgets.

Last Two Trips of the Season

Well we had our last two trips of the season. It was a tough call but I decided to pull the boat next week. With all the warm weather and lack of threat from freezing temps it was a tough call. After getting some house work done if it is still warm I will put her back in early (end of January) if there are good reports of fish hanging around similar to earlier this year.

Saturday we fished from the bathing beach up to Lavalette. The entire ride down from Manasquan to the bathing beach there was absolutely no bird action. We marked a lot of bait and some fish. Trolled south from Lavalette to the bathing beach, picking up and running to our usual spots along the way. Our total for the day was 13 fish to just about or just over 28". Since they were so close and our recent visit from a conservation officer we decided not keep any. Most fish were caught trolling from North to South or West to East and all fish were on blue and white shads. We tried chartreuse as well as pearl and neither got touched except by a few blues.

Sunday we had Bob out (a fell BFH'er) and decided to run North to the rocks after hearing great reports on Saturday about the action up there. If only we had decided to run up their for the afternoon bite instead of having lunch and hanging out down South for it. But, let me tell you...it was worth taking a slight beating on the ride home with that stiff south wind. We had a rough total of around 75 fish. Yes most were school fish of around 20 to 24 inches with a lot of 26 inch fish thrown in. It was typical December jigging action with tons of bird action. The fish were so thick you could feel the jig bouncing off them. Bob had some great top-water action with small poppers (wish I could have gotten a photo of the boils and blow ups) there was mid water column jigging, bottom bouncing. The fish were everywhere. There were so many boats it made it hard to troll which was producing many larger fish. We saw 1 30 pounder landed and heard reports of several in that range as well as one that was estimated around 50# and according to the captain the largest bass he had ever seen. The bigger fish were reported to be on spoons and plugs. Once we got on the troll again with only the blue and white shads seeing action it took less than 10 minutes to boat the only keeper of the day...a 10lb 13oz 31.5" fish. Not long after that the bite died off. Due to commitments on Monday morning we had to cut the day short otherwise I think we could have put a few more keepers in the box trolling with the fleet thinned out once the tide changed. After cleaning the fish back at the dock it was loaded with blueback herring, and they were 8-10".